Matt Dolan Launches Radio Ad Highlighting Sherrod Brown’s Abysmal Record on Inflation, Out-of-Control Spending

September 19, 2023

Cleveland, OH: U.S. Senate candidate Matt Dolan launched a statewide radio ad in his campaign for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. The 60-second ad targets Senator Sherrod Brown’s record of voting for massive government spending in increases that has unleashed inflation on the back of Ohio families and workers. It also highlights Dolan’s history of authoring balanced budgets that deliver tax cuts and conservative reforms for the state.

“Reckless spending in Washington is hurting Ohio families in the form of soaring inflation, greater debt and rising interest rates,” Dolan said. “Sherrod Brown has caused it to happen by voting with Joe Biden every chance he gets. When elected to the U.S. Senate, I will take my proven record as a fiscal conservative to fight wasteful spending, reduce debt and return more hard-earned tax dollars to every Ohioan.”

Listen to the ad HERE. 

Ad Script (:60)

Voiceover: Out-of-control spending in Washington is forcing the average Ohio family to spend $700 more on living expenses every single month.

Sherrod Brown is one of the biggest spenders in D.C., voting with Joe Biden 98 percent of the time, raising our taxes and creating sky-high inflation and soaring interest rates.

Enough is enough.

Matt Dolan: I’m Matt Dolan, and I am running for the United States Senate to end reckless spending and balance the budget.

As a state senator, I authored the most conservative budget in Ohio history, cutting taxes for working families and small businesses.

In Ohio, we balance our budget, and Congress should do the same.

Inflation is a tax on everyone. We need to reduce spending and stop Washington from piling up more debt on the backs of our children.

I’m Matt Dolan, candidate for U.S. Senate, and I approve this message.

Background

In the State Senate, Matt Dolan authored and passed three balanced state budgets, including this year, which has been widely labeled as “the most conservative budget in Ohio legislative history.” The latest budget, enacted earlier this summer, provided $2.5 billion in tax relief for Ohioans. It also effectively eliminated the highly anti-competitive commercial activities tax (CAT) for 90 percent of businesses that currently pay it. Dolan’s budget received broad praise from conservative groups in Ohio and across American, including the Buckeye Institute, Americans for Prosperity and Americans for Tax Reform.

In August, a report from Moody’s Analytics found that the typical American household spent $709 more in July 2023 than it did to purchase the same goods and services two years ago.

Sherrod Brown voted in favor of H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act, a partisan coronavirus relief package that cost nearly $2 trillion. 

  • Sherrod Brown voted for H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act. (H.R. 1319, Vote Number 110, Passed 50-49, Brown voted Yea, 3/6/21)
  • The American Rescue Plan is a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. “President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on Thursday. The colossal bill, known as the American Rescue Plan, allocates money for vaccines, schools, small businesses and anti-poverty programs such as an expanded child tax credit that will mean new monthly payments to many parents.” (Barbara Sprunt, “Here’s What’s In The American Rescue Plan,” NPR, 3/11/21)
  • The American Rescue Plan passed through Congress on a partisan basis. “The American Rescue plan made it through Congress with only Democratic support, making it stand out from the bipartisan COVID relief plans Congress passed over the last year.” (Savannah Behrmann, “Takeaways from the COVID-19 stimulus bill passing Congress: Weeks of partisan fighting comes to an end with a win for Biden,” USA Today, 3/10/21)
  • According to a regional Federal Reserve Bank analysis, the American Rescue Plan boosted inflation. “Inflation is likely getting a temporary boost from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that the Biden administration ushered in early this year, new Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco research released on Monday suggested.” (Jeanna Smialek, “A regional Fed analysis suggests Biden’s stimulus is temporarily stoking inflation.,” The New York Times, 10/18/21)
  • Researchers found that the American Rescue Plan might raise the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio close to its historical peak in 1968, fueling inflation. “Based on the package’s size and using historical evidence on how fiscal spending affects the labor market, the researchers found that the American Rescue Plan might raise the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio close to its historical peak in 1968, fueling some inflation — but that the price impact would be small and short-lived.” (Jeanna Smialek, “A regional Fed analysis suggests Biden’s stimulus is temporarily stoking inflation.,” The New York Times, 10/18/21)
  • CNN BUSINESS HEADLINE: “All that stimulus is sending inflation higher” (Anneken Tappe, “All that stimulus is sending inflation higher,” CNN Business, 4/9/21)
  • Stimulus checks caused additional spending, decreasing supply and driving up prices.“Supply bottlenecks have occurred because companies were caught flat-footed by the speed of the economic recovery from the pandemic, with most consumers flush with cash, after multiple stimulus checks, and spending freely. With everyone now ramping up at once, manufacturers, shipping firms, miners and agricultural companies can’t keep up.” (Christopher Rugaber, “EXPLAINER: Why are fears of high inflation getting worse?,” AP, 5/12/21)

Sherrod Brown voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, legislation that could raise taxes by $20 billion on people making less than $400,000 a year, hire 87,000 new IRS agents to target middle-class taxpayers, and have little to no impact on inflation for a while. 

  • On August 7, 2022, Sherrod Brown voted Yea on H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act. (H.R. 5376, Vote Number 325, Passed 50-50, Brown voted Yea, 8/7/22)
  • “Some economic analyses, including from the Congressional Budget Office, found that the legislation would have little to no impact on inflation this year.” “The estimated effect of the Senate’s climate and tax bill on inflation was among the many points Democrats defended on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Some economic analyses, including from the Congressional Budget Office, found that the legislation would have little to no impact on inflation this year.” (Stephanie Lai, “Will the bill curb inflation? Democrats think it will, but not immediately.” The New York Times, 8/7/22)
  • “The bill’s net impact on inflation, though, is likely modest, and may not be felt for a while given how long many of these policies will take to go into effect, multiple economists who spoke with Vox said.” (Li Zhou, “Would the Inflation Reduction Act actually reduce inflation?” Vox, 8/4/22)

Sherrod Brown voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which lowered the individual tax rate and saved the average Ohio taxpayer $1,476.29.

Sherrod Brown voted against H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. (H.R. 1, Vote Number 303, Passed: 51-49, Brown voted Nay, 12/2/17)

    • The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered individual income tax rates. “The TCJA lowered most individual income tax rates, including the top marginal rate from 39.6 to 37 percent. The law maintained the seven-bracket rate structure, but the income thresholds were updated. TCJA increased the standard deduction to $12,400 for single filers and $24,800 for married filers (tax year 2020), compared with $6,500 (single) and $9,550 (married) under prior law.” (Tax Foundation, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), accessed 6/20/23)
    • Per Tax Foundation analysis, the Tax Cuts and Jobs act saved the average Ohio taxpayer $1,476.26 and was estimated to create 8,092 new Ohio jobs. 

For more information on Matt Dolan’s campaign for U.S. Senate, email press@dolanforohio.com.